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Why colleges tolerate fraternities

Vox | January 21, 2026



Frats are… fratty. Why do colleges keep them around?

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In this episode of Overrated, Vox’s Phil Edwards explores the history of frats.

The history of fraternities has a lot of ups and downs — and stretches all the way back to America’s founding fathers. Beyond the hazing and beer chugging, there’s a story that includes changes in higher education and even national politics.

So why do colleges keep fraternities on campus? The reason is a web of incentives that make fraternities allies to administrators — despite the negatives they sometimes present.

Overrated is a series that takes a look at the things we all know — the books, the trends, and the ideas that have become iconic — and answers the question: “Why is this so famous”?

Watch the previous episode of Overrated: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eO92ABfq2I

Watch Season 1 of Overrated here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSVlSmZWzm0&list=PLJ8cMiYb3G5elLvDjph8cAd91weWxBfyN

Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what’s really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com.

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Written by Vox

Comments

This post currently has 45 comments.

  15. @DownrightDamnation

    January 21, 2026 at 7:16 pm

    So because of capitalism requiring lots of universities and colleges to rely heavily or somewhat on frat donations, and not teaching men from a young age how to heartily communicate, cope, and normalizing crying and going to therapy, and erasing toxic masculinity, they just use a solution of just hurting each other in a cult hierarchy? Yeah okay great idea…… god this is so dystopian

  18. @michaeljordanvlogs9965

    January 21, 2026 at 7:16 pm

    I feel like a lot of what was said in this video about why colleges keep them around is false. Not saying the data or stereotypes are wrong, but the reasons he provided about colleges wanting to discipline people just seems like a completely random and wrong assumption. Colleges don't use fraternities as a chain of command lol

  23. @Joey_G-r3d

    January 21, 2026 at 7:16 pm

    Fraternities have significantly more positives than negatives. Most fraternities have lessened “hazing” significantly, especially alcohol hazing. It’s a brotherhood, and you make lots of lifetime friends that you otherwise would’ve never met. Along with this, you can network with other fraternity alumni across the nation. People who shame fraternities have never had a single experience with a real fraternity, they simply base their opinion off of the mistakes of 1 in 1000 frats across the U.S.

  26. @glassisking

    January 21, 2026 at 7:16 pm

    All of the data available actually indicates that students in Greek Life outperform other students in GPA by .1-.2 points, so this video is sharing falsehoods right from the get-go.

  27. @goodoldcarburetors5592

    January 21, 2026 at 7:16 pm

    Currently watching this on a couch in my fraternity’s house 😂
    Given that I go to a smaller school where the orgs are smaller and closer knit, I think that Greek life is a great thing. It gives us a break from school, encourages socialization, can lead to job opportunities, help in classes, gives us new experiences that we will remember for the rest of our lives, and is just overall a ton of fun. We also do philanthropy events which is always nice. Greek life is a special thing. If you join, you will likely be provided endless opportunities to make bad decisions, it’s just up to you to be responsible. In that way it will definitely harden you (If pledging hadn’t done that enough already 😂)

  41. @Rootsplain

    January 21, 2026 at 7:16 pm

    As a college student at a top party school (CU Boulder) I hate them. The hedonistic lifestyle they promote makes socialization terrible here for people that don't want to poison their bodies or just be another number at a party.

Comments are closed.

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